Surprise! It is the year of the Lincoln cent

At the beginning of the year, I forecast that this would be a good year for Morgan silver dollars.

Heritage selling an 1893-S in MS-61 for over $176,250 at Long Beach seems to prove this.

What I did not forecast was the surge in interest I am seeing in Lincoln cents.

The more stories I publish about Lincolns, the more feedback I am getting.

It is great.

It feels like we are returning to our roots – or my roots anyway.

The latest story I have is about the discovery of a 1990 proof set with a cent in it that is missing the "S" mintmark.

It is a rare set valued at $4,000 to $20,000 depending on quality.

I picked a nice round $10,000 for headline purposes in the paper.

It has been a number of years since such a set has been reported found.

The finder has owned the set for roughly a quarter century.

He just had not examined it.

Error authority Ken Potter wrote the story and it goes online at 10 o’clock Central Daylight Time this morning.

Please read it.

Then go out there and examine or re-examine what you already own.

You might be pleasantly surprised by what you will find.

Better yet, get out there and check some cents for old times’ sake if for no other reason.

You might surprise yourself.

You might find a 1969-S doubled die, or the more common 1972, 1983, 1984 and 1995 doubled dies.

You might find a copper 1982-D small date cent.

One has been confirmed found as reported this year in Numismatic News.

There might be another one as also reported.

But as Ken Potter has often said and written, where there is one, there is likely more.

The only questions are who will find another one and when.

If you are that plucky and fortunate person, contact me at david.harper@fwmedia.com.

I can put you on the cover of Numismatic News too.

I have already been surprised by the number of emails I have received from collectors doing cent searches this year.

Morgan dollars are great coins.

I hope they continue to do well.

But when the history of 2017 is written, it looks like the Lincoln cent might just be the biggest winner.

That makes me glad.

Buzz blogger Dave Harper has twice won the Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog and is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."

• Like this blog? Read more by subscribing to Numismatic News